Comments on: #41: The Golden Gate Bridge, a Modest Proposal

By: Faye Butler

Faye Butler — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:43:26 +0000

A moving narration. The golden gate bridge, like our life, is precious! Take a minute before.

By: Cynthia Price

Cynthia Price — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 02:35:39 +0000

Probably the most famous jumper was KGO talk show host / political consultant Duane Garrett, who jumped in 1996.

By: richard - sparkletack

richard - sparkletack — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:39:05 +0000

Thanks for the story, Norman — Unfortunately, though, I haven’t been able to confirm the name of your classmate — or in fact the names of any of the jumpers, whether they be survivors or not. News outlets in San Francisco suppress that information to discourage copycats and to protect the families.

But perhaps someone reading this post has information about Mr. Layton, and can confirm it here.

By: Norman Opela

Norman Opela — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 08:33:30 +0000

Dear Friend, In 1968 or 69 I took classes with a young man that jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge and came up singing, still holding his sandals. He did not jump off the bridge to kill himself. He jumped off the bridge to rid himself of the body that held him prisoner. He was a very spiritual individual that the Great Spirit (Wakan Tanka) lauged at him and told him he still had things to do on this earth. I think his name was Jimmy Layton. Could you confirm this? Thank you, Sincerely, Norman Opela.

By: Lee

Lee — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 19:09:08 +0000

Beautiful and profound. Been and sometimes at the point where such a proposal would be a good thing. What a really “nice” effort you made with this cast.

By: B

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 19:08:53 +0000

A very romantic suggestion, although I don’t believe we should entrust our responsibilities to signs or barriers. A smile is free. Showing someone you care only takes a second.

By: Annik

Annik — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 19:08:35 +0000

A very moving episode, thank you for that! Maybe you’re interested in “NPR’s Most E-Mailed Stories”: The podcast-episode from November 30th is a story about somebody who lost a friend who jumped off Golden Gate bridge…

By: JTony

JTony — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 19:08:20 +0000

This episode was inspiring and exciting. I’m always looking for ways to have are increase community and help solve social problems, and this seems a perfect fit.

I’ve long been enamoured of our city symbol, the Phoenix, as it not only memorializes the various destructive forces our city has been through, but the fact that our city survived each of these and flourished afterwards. The Phoenix is a symbol of hope and perseverence, the antithesis of suicide. Perhaps a phoenix can part of the bridge’s symbology as well. I’d like the symbol of the phoenix to be easily recognizable to our city once more (and wrote about it before on my site at http://www.jtony.com/?p=22).

Thanks for a great show (I am an avid listener)!
Cheers,
-Tony

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 19:08:01 +0000

Thank you very much for this episode. I like your proposal, and also favor a physical barrier that can be designed with slim, tall, bars that improve visibility for everyone. (This design has been suggested in the past, but I’m not sure people understand what a visual improvement it could be.) But, yes, for now let’s reshape the bridge’s story . Since the bridge is a monument to both the majestic beauty of the place and the triumphant possibility of human effort, let’s preserve the beauty and possibility of any human being who treads it. Every culture in our city has something to offer the human spirit for this work.
A great idea. Thanks! I’m going to go to the link you mentioned now…